Just a Toy
by keenteen24
Summary: When Knuckles gets curious about the mysterious Tails Doll and brings it home, strange things start happenning! Can anyone survive this terrible toy?
1. Ghost Stories

_The darkest evils live in the most unexpected places…_

"And that," Shadow said, "is why no one goes to Kingdom Valley at night anymore."

"Th-that was pretty scary…" said Silver.

"Wimp," muttered Knuckles.

"I heard that!"

"Guys," said Sonic, "we're almost out of popcorn."

"Man, that's just un-cool, bro," said Manic.

"Who's gonna get more?" asked Tails.

"More importantly," said Shadow, "who's going to try to top my 'Ghost of Mephiles' story?"

The boys thought for a minute. They were sitting on the floor of Silver's living room, enjoying the ghost story part of their sleepover. Blaze had given him the idea, and, although he'd thought it was too girly at first, he decided to go with it. After all, he wanted to see if anyone was good enough to beat his top video game scores.

Manic nudged his brother. "Hey, bro, what about that one you told me one time? You know, about the Tails thing-a-ma-jig?"

"There's an idea," said Sonic. "Have any of you—other than you, Manic—heard about the Tails Doll?"

The boys shook their heads.

"Oh, this'll be good," Knuckles whispered to Tails. "Some fangirl made a doll of you. Eggman, nearsighted, thought it was you and tore it apart. The end."

"Not quite," said Sonic. "If Eggman hadn't made the thing and been its master, HE would have been torn apart by the doll."

Now he had their full attention.

"Years ago, Eggman wanted to give Metal Sonic a buddy, just like mine. However, he was out of orange metal."

"Why didn't he go to the hardware store?" Shadow interrupted. "Seems pretty logical."

"Dude, really? You WORKED for Egghead," Knuckles pointed out. "The guy wouldn't know 'logical' if it tore off his moustache."

"And you," Shadow muttered, "wouldn't know 'intelligence' if it smashed your precious rock."

"What was that?"

"You heard me."

"You little—"

"Girls!" Sonic exclaimed. "Could you have your catfight later? I'm trying to tell a story!"

"Go on, bro," Manic encouraged.

"Thank you. Anyway, since ol' Egghead didn't have any orange metal, he used fabric. Soon, he had a doll that looked just like Tails. He didn't stop there, though. Wanting to give it life, he took a shard from the red Chaos Emerald. He added some mechanisms and black magic to the gem fragment. Eggman hung it from a wire, which he attached to the doll's head. And the Tails Doll was born."

"Ooh, scary," Silver said, rolling his eyes. "We wanted scary stories, not bedtime stories."

"This ain't some fairy tale, Silver. Some say that Eggman found the doll weak. According to those stories, he managed to shut down the doll, and then threw it in the garbage. Others say that Metal Sonic, insulted by having a plushie for a partner, abandoned the Tails Doll. Still others say he ran away. It doesn't matter, because everyone agrees on what happened next."

"What happened, Sonic?" Tails asked.

"It developed a strong desire to kill," Sonic said. "Apparently, solitude had a negative effect on it. A child once found the doll and brought it to bed one night. He was gone in the morning. There was no body at all. All that was left was the Tails Doll. The boy was never found. Numerous incidents like that happened. All of them point to the Tails Doll being the prime suspect. They say it just sucked up people's souls. And do you know what?"

"What?" all the boys except Manic asked.

"The doll—"

"It's still around," Manic cut in. "Still searching Mobius for victims. Still killing. It only takes one person a night, so pray it doesn't pick you…because it's right there!"

All of them whirled around. Of course, there was nothing there. Sonic and Manic burst out laughing.

"You guys should have seen your faces," Manic said.

"Nice one, bro," said Sonic. "But I wanted to end it!"

"Heh, you're pretty good at making up stories, Sonic," Tails said. "That one almost sounded real!"

"It IS real, Tails," Sonic said, darkening his tone. "Didn't you hear any of those missing person reports on the news? There's a new person missing every night. No one is ever found."

"Yeah, real funny, Sonic," Knuckles said. "That's probably just some freak kidnapper. Or people are running away. Either way, there's no way a little toy could kill people."

"Prove it," said Silver.

"I will," said Knuckles. "Where do you find it?"

"Some say the doll still returns to Robuttnik's base on some nights," Manic said. "I guess it's just old habits, or it needs someplace to stay. Either way, the base is your best bet."

"Fine. I'll check there. When I'm watching the Master Emerald tomorrow night, I'll finish that thing. Nothing gets through me."

"Hey, Knuckles," Shadow said, "speaking of the M.E., who's watching it right now?"

"Don't worry," said Knuckles. "Eggman offered to do it. I was suspicious at first, of course, but he said he wanted to be buddies. So, naturally, I agreed."

"Oh, GOD," said Sonic, slapping his forehead.

"What?"

"Um, I'm tired," Silver said, changing the subject. "How about we go to sleep now?"

Soon all the guys were snug in their sleeping bags. All were asleep, except for one.

"I'll show them I'm not afraid of some made-up doll," Knuckles muttered. "I'll show them."


	2. Plushie of Doom

The next day, after the sleepover, Knuckles returned to Angel Island. Strangely, it wasn't floating anymore, just resting in the ocean.

"Hey! Where's the Master Emerald?" Knuckles looked around, but didn't find it. "Hmph. That bat probably has it. Oh well, I'll make her give it back after I find that doll."

Following his instinct and using all his skills as a hunter, Knuckles found Eggman's base with hardly any trouble. He started snooping around; looking for places the Tails Doll might be in. He was shocked to find Eggman with the Master Emerald in one room.

"Eggman! What are you doing with the Master Emerald?"

Surprised, Eggman turned around. "Kn-Knuckles! I, um…saw someone taking it! Yes, that's it! They ran off and dropped the Emerald as I approached, so I brought it back here so I could watch it for you!"

"I see. Thanks."

Eggman wiped the sweat off his forehead. "How did you find my base, anyway?"

"I looked in the atlas," Knuckles said. "Did you know you're on the map?"

"Of course I am! I'm incredibly important! So important, that it would be a shame NOT to tell people where my top-secret base is! But what are you doing here?"

"Do you know anything about…the 'Tails Doll'?"

"Hmm…yes, I believe I do. It sleeps in a closet all day, and seems to disappear at night."

'So,' Knuckles thought, 'Sonic and Manic may have actually been right.' "Can I see it?" he asked.

"Of course," said Eggman. "You can have it, if you want. It does me no good now."

"Thanks, I'll take that and the Master Emerald home."

Later that evening, Knuckles had some visitors. Shadow, Silver, Sonic, Manic, and Tails dropped by to see if he'd actually found the doll.

"Wow," said Silver. "So, that's what it looks like?"

"It DOES look just like me!" said Tails.

"Good luck staying alive tonight, Rad Red," said Sonic.

"You'll need it," Manic added.

"Yeah, right," said Knuckles. "Your dumb story is false and I'll prove it. Just you wait. Nothing's gonna happen tonight."

"Well, just to make sure you don't ditch the doll or something," Sonic said, "we're setting up this video camera. The rest of us are going home so it doesn't change its mind and kill Silver."

"Wait, why me?" Silver asked.

"Go ahead and set it up," Knuckles said. "I'll be sleeping right here, in front of the Emerald."

"Even if nothing happens tonight," Shadow smirked, "we'll still have a video of you sleeping with a stuffed animal."

"If you die, I totally get your Master Emerald," Manic said.

On that happy note, the boys left. Night fell, leaving Knuckles with an oversized rock, a video camera, and a doll.

Knuckles stayed awake for a few hours, just watching the doll. He didn't think Eggman could have created it; he didn't seem like the kind of guy to sew.

Finally, midnight came. Knuckles stared at the doll. Nothing seemed to happen.

"I guess it's just a toy, after all," Knuckles yawned.

He turned and was about to fall asleep, but was surprised to see something glowing red in the Emerald's green glow. He faced the doll again. It was hovering in the air. The jewel and both its eyes were glowing.

Knuckles was surprised. "How are you…?"

He made the mistake of looking into the doll's eyes. They seemed to get brighter and brighter. Knuckles' own eyes widened, but his arms wouldn't work. The doll moved toward him…closer…closer…

"What are you…no…no…NO!"

That morning, the boys came back to check up on Knuckles. They didn't see him anywhere. All that was there was an oversized rock, a video camera, and a doll.

"Knux? Where are you?" called Tails.

Shadow checked the video camera. "The tape's gone," he said.

"Knuckles couldn't have gone far," Silver said. "How about we split up and look for him?"

"Sounds like a plan," Manic said.

The boys left, calling Knuckles' name. Back at the Master Emerald, a toothy grin slowly spread across the Tails Doll's face.

They never found their friend.


	3. More Power, More Death

"I give up," Shadow said as evening fell.

"I wish I'd never told you guys the story," Sonic said. "I'll admit it, I was making it up. I thought I was, anyway. I guess it was true. Knux might still be alive if…if…"

"There's no guarantee he's dead, Sonic!" Silver said.

"Well, then, where is he?" Manic asked.

"I…I don't know. Hiking, maybe?"

"Would he really leave the Emerald behind?" Shadow pointed out. "Look, guys. Knuckles is gone; probably for good. I'm willing to bet that the Tails Doll has something to do with it. The tape is gone, so, unfortunately, we have no idea what happened."

"Are you sure it's gone?" Tails asked.

"Yeah, I opened up the camera, and—" He was cut off by a sudden rumbling. Everyone fell down as the ground began to shake.

"Earthquake!" yelled Manic. "And it's not my fault this time!"

"That's impossible!" Tails shouted. "We're on a floating island; we can't have earthquakes here!"

"Then that means…we're falling!" said Sonic. "Everyone, brace yourselves!"

The boys lay flat on the ground, clutching the grass. _Splash!_ Angel Island landed in the ocean.

"Oof," Silver muttered.

"What happened?" Manic groaned.

"The Master Emerald's probably been stolen!" Tails said.

Everyone hurried to the shrine. The Master Emerald was still there, but it wasn't glowing anymore.

"Why isn't it glowing?" Silver asked.

"Someone must have absorbed all of its power," Sonic said.

"S-Sonic," Tails whimpered, "the d-doll is gone…"

"I hate to say it," Shadow said, "but I think we've got a super-charged killer doll on the loose."

"There's no telling how powerful it is now," Sonic said.

"It's almost night, bro," Manic said.

"You know what? I think I'm gonna go home and lock the doors and windows now," Silver said.

"That sounds like a pretty good idea," Sonic said. "If you're still alive tomorrow, meet back here at 12:00." Everyone hurried home.

At noon, Shadow, Silver, Tails, Sonic, and Manic were all gathered at the lifeless Emerald's shrine. Everyone appeared to be in one piece.

"Well?" Silver began.

"According to the news," Shadow said, "three people were killed last night. The culprit left the bodies with a knife in each chest."

"They removed the tapes in security cameras," Sonic said, "but apparently they forgot one. It was really blurry, but the tape showed a small, hovering being stabbing the unfortunate people. It had a red glow about it."

"So, it's gotten stronger," Manic said. "It's moved on to using weapons. And it's killing multiple people in the same night."

"Sonic, I'm scared," Tails whimpered.

Sonic put an arm around his adopted brother. "It's okay, Tails. We'll get through this. Trust me. We've fought more dangerous enemies before."

"Well, then, what's your brilliant plan for beating it?" Silver inquired.

"I…I don't know."

"Then I suppose we'd better sleep with an eye open, or we'll never wake up," Shadow concluded.

Later that night, Silver got a phone call.

"Hey, Silver, can you do me a favor? I'm sorry to ask you this late."

"It's okay, Blaze. What's the problem?"

"The pipe under my sink is busted, and it's flooding my kitchen. The servants aren't any good with plumbing here. Do you think you could fix it for me?"

"Sure, I'll be right over."

Ten minutes later, Silver knocked on the door of Blaze's castle. There was no response. He knocked again.

"Blaze? Blaze? Are you in there?"

He gave it a push, and was surprised to find it unlocked. That was weird. Blaze always had her door locked this late. Maybe she'd unlocked it for Silver. But where were the guards and servants? He stepped in.

"I guess they all got tired, and unlocked the door for me while they went to bed," he said to himself. "Yeah, I guess that's it…"

As he entered the living room, he froze. Blaze was lying motionless on the ground. Silver ran over to her. Her purple jacket had turned red with blood.

"Oh my god…Blaze! Blaze, can you hear me? What happened?"

Her eyes fluttered open, but she seemed to have trouble focusing. "S-Silver…flying doll…knife…" She coughed up more blood. "Leave before it…comes back…"

Tears were running down Silver cheeks. "No, Blaze," he said. "I'm not leaving you. I-I'll take you to a hospital, something! You'll be okay…don't leave me…"

Blaze coughed again. "So…naïve…I…I love…y-you…" She closed her eyes for the last time.

"NO!" Silver cried. "Why, Blaze…I loved you, too…and now I'll never be able to—"

He stopped short when he sensed something behind him. He didn't even get a chance to turn around before a knife was shoved into his back.

"AAARRG! Why…you…you murderous doll…WHY?"

Silver collapsed on the floor. "Blaze…I'm coming…"


	4. ReLive the Tragedy

The Emerald's shrine had become a regular meeting place for the boys. Everyone but Silver showed up, looking grim. The tragedy from the night before had been all over the news:

"PRINCESS BLAZE THE CAT AND SILVER THE HEDGEHOG FOUND DEAD. Victims were found in Princess Blaze's castle, showing signs of being stabbed. Also, the Sol Emeralds have been mysteriously drained of their power. Castle staff is either dead or too traumatized to give a statement. Mobians are advised to lock up their homes at night until the murderer is caught."

"We've lost more friends," Sonic said, "and it's all my f—"

"Would you stop blaming yourself?" Shadow yelled. "It's not your fault people are being killed by a doll!"

"Yes it is!" Sonic yelled back. "Like I said before, I thought it was made up! I didn't know it was real! But then Knux found it…and it…and afterwards it got all the Master Emerald's power! Then it got stronger! All because I inspired Knuckles to go look for it!"

"It's as much my fault as it is your, bro," Manic sniffed. "I'm the one who told you to tell the story."

"Look," Shadow said, "blaming ourselves isn't going to help. Now, we know it got the power of the Sol Emeralds last night. I'm guessing that's why Blaze is dead; Silver probably died trying to save her or something. Anyway, the Tails Doll is now more powerful than ever before. I suggest we do our best to fight it off if it comes to us. How does that sound?"

"Question," Tails said. "What if we can't fight it off alone?"

"Then we call each other for help," Sonic said. "Remember those wrist-communicator-things you made when we went into space?"

"Yeah, I still have them," Tails said.

"Let's got to your workshop and get them," Sonic said. "That way, we can communicate."

"Sound like a plan, bro," Manic said.

"Darn murder," Rouge muttered. "I can't very well run a nightclub if everyone's locking themselves in at night."

She sat in her living room, in the apartment about Club Rouge. Nothing was on TV, and she'd given up trying to play a game with Omega. Rouge had found out the hard way that robots don't really understand how to play Charades…

~flashback~

"_Ok…now who am I?" Rouge crossed her arms and put a brooding expression on her face, much like Shadow._

"_YOU ARE ROUGE THE BAT," Omega said. "DO YOU HAVE AMNESIA?"_

"_Omega," Rouge sighed, "I meant, who or what am I pretending to be? I was pretending to be Shadow."_

"_GIVE THIS UNIT A BREAK. INSUFFICIENT REPRESENTATION OF SUBJECT 'SHADOW'. HIS CHEST IS MUCH SMALLER THAN YOURS."_

"…_I think we should do something else now…"_

~end of flashback~

Someone opened the door. Rouge turned to find Shadow walking in.

"Rouge, you really should keep the doors and windows locked," Shadow said, locking the door behind him.

"Well, someone seems superstitious," Rouge said. "It's not like someone's going to break in and kill us. Relax, Shadow! You're jumpier than usual."

"I should be," he said. "That damn Tails Doll's killed numerous people, including Knuckles, Silver, and Blaze. It just keeps getting more powerful. We can't take any risks."

He closed the nearest window. Rouge opened it again.

"It's too warm in here to close those," she said. "Don't you want to breathe in the fresh air?"

"I'm fine with any air, as long as I'm still breathing," Shadow muttered.

Rouge sighed and slipped her hand into Shadow's. "Why don't we go down to the club? You could probably use a drink."

"No thanks," Shadow said. "Hey, where's Omega, anyway?"

"He's already down there," Rouge said. "He's been trying to plug my iPod into himself."

"…Do I really want to know why?"

"The sound system broke, and he thinks he can replace it."

"Do you think he needs help?"

"He's fine. Now…do you want to play?" Rouge asked slyly.

Shadow was confused. "Play what? Cards?"

Rouge sighed. "Never mind. How about we—"

_BANG! BANG! BANG!_ She was cut off by the sound of gunshots in the club.

"What was that?" Rouge cried.

"I think Omega may need help after all," Shadow said.

They opened the door and hurried down the stairs to the club. Omega was there, but his eyes weren't glowing like they usually did. Shadow and Rouge ran over to him.

"Someone opened up his circuitry area and fired a gun into it," Rouge said. "I…I think he's beyond repair."

"Who would do such a—DUCK!"

Shadow pulled Rouge down as a knife impaled itself into the wall behind them. They looked up to see the Tails Doll hovering in front of the door. Its jewel glowed brighter, and a gun appeared in its plush hand.

"I wish I could do that right about now," Rouge muttered.

"I can," Shadow said. He quickly opened up a storage compartment in Omega's back and pulled out a pistol. Shadow shot at the doll, but it dodged each shot. The doll shot back, destroying Shadow's communicator in the process.

"DAMN!" Shadow yelled, ducking behind Omega. "We're out of luck."

"We have to get out of here," Rouge said. "It's blocking the door, so we'll take the stairs to the roof. We can run across the rooftops or something. Anything."

"I wish I that damn fourth Chaos Emerald," Shadow muttered. He threw his empty pistol at the Tails Doll, knocking the gun out of its hand. While the doll hurried to pick up its gun, Shadow and Rouge ran to the stairs. They were almost up, but Rouge tripped suddenly. She tried to get up, but she'd hurt her knees and a wing.

"Shadow, go! I'll hold it off!"

"What? No! You can't, it's too powerful!"

"Just go! The door to the roof is right there! Save yourself!"

"Not without you! I'll carry you or something!" He put his arms under her to lift her.

"Too late! It's—it's here!"

Sure enough, the doll had caught up to them. It lifted its gun and fired.

"Shad—!" Rouge was shot straight through the heart. She died right there in Shadow's arms.

"NO!" Tears coursed down Shadow's cheeks for the first time in years. The doll just watched, taking pleasure in the hedgehog's misery.

"This can't be happening…first Maria, now you…why? WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DIE? It's…it's just not right…" Shadow turned and faced the doll. "How dare you touch her!"

He tried to attack the doll, but he was too weak with sorrow. The doll just shot him, too, but it wasn't as critical a hit. Shadow felt the blood running out of his body, his life running out with it. He collapsed next to Rouge again, and gently kissed her cheek before he let out his last breath.


	5. Running Out of Time

The Emerald's shrine was abandoned the next day. Only three of the six boys were still alive. Tails had moved in with Sonic, Manic, and Sonia out of fear of being alone. The little fox used to consider lightning to be his worst fear. He'd changed his mind in the past few days.

"We have to do something," Manic said.

"As if we've haven't heard that in recent conversations," Sonic muttered.

"What CAN we do?" Tails asked. "That doll's unstoppable! It already k-killed all of Team Dark, and they were the strongest people we knew!"

"It probably caught 'em by surprise or something," Manic tried to sound reassuring. "If we stay alert, it can't hurt us...as easily, anyway."

Sonia brought in some chilidogs from the kitchen. There weren't many, as they seemed to be oddly disappearing. No one touched the ones she brought, not even Sonic. Sonia raised an eyebrow.

"They're not tofu like last time," she said, remembering the prank she'd pulled on her brother. After cleaning up all the vomit, she'd decided never to feed him tofu again.

"I lost my appetite," Sonic said.

"You must be taking it incredibly hard," Sonia observed.

"Sis, our friends are getting killed. KILLED. Of course I'm taking it hard."

"I know," she replied softly. "I know…" She suddenly couldn't keep her mind off the doll's first victim.

A tear fell from Sonia's eye as she sat next to Tails on the couch. Tails put an arm around her, and she hugged him back. She felt as though Tails was her little brother, but the connection wasn't quite as close as it was with Sonic.

Everyone sat in silence for a few minutes, thinking about their lost friends. Soon, everyone had wet cheeks.

"Well," Manic broke the silence as he dried his eyes. "Crying isn't gonna do us any good."

"You're right, bro," Sonic said. "We ought to figure out the start of the problem and work from there."

"Ok," Manic said. "Maybe we can time-travel back to the sleepover and get ourselves to shut up?"

"Getting you to shut up is impossible, Manic," Sonia muttered.

"Hey! I heard that!"

"Wait a minute," Tails spoke up. "The sleepover wasn't the start of the problem."

"You're right, Tails," Sonic said. "The doll was still around before the sleepover began. It could have killed our friends whether we'd mentioned it or not."

"So then…what do we do?" Sonia asked.

"I hate to say it," Tails said, "but I think we need to go have a little talk with the doll's creator."

A pink hedgehog looked out her window to see four streaks zoom past that evening. She could just make out another pink hedgehog on a motorcycle, a green hedgehog on a hover board, a flying fox, and a running blue hedgehog.

"Ah ha!" she said. "There's my Sonic! I wonder where he's going…" She thought for a minute. "It looks like they're headed to Eggman's base…which means they'll probably need my help!" She grabbed her hammer and hurried out the door. "Wait for me, Sonic!"

Sonic, already a few miles ahead, heard her. "Not now, Amy," he muttered. "I don't have time for this! Step on it, guys!"

They accelerated, leaving Amy in their dust.

"He must not have heard me," she decided. "At least I know where he's going! He'll be so happy to see me when I show up and save the day!" She kept running toward the base as night began to fall.

Meanwhile, Tails and the Underground went up to the door of Eggman's base. It was locked.

"Now how do we get in? Bust down the door?" Sonia asked.

"They'll know we're here if we do that," Manic said.

He went over to keypad and pushed a few buttons. The door opened.

"When's old Robuttnik gonna change his password, huh?" Manic smiled. "'E-G-G-M-A-N' is just too easy! I'll bet it's the password to his Chao Garden, if he has one."

"…Eggman having a Chao Garden creates an even scarier mental image than the Tails Doll," Tails said.

The four walked in. They snooped around, looking for Eggman. Along the way, they destroyed any robots that attempted to stop them. Eventually, they found their target in a huge lab lined with computers.

"I think we found the computer room," Sonia muttered.

Eggman turned and was shocked to see three hedgehogs and a fox behind him.

"What are you four doing here? Guards! Seize them! GUARDS!"

"Ain't gonna happen, Egghead," Sonic said. "They've already been taken care of."

"Well, what have you come for?" Eggman was beginning to sweat. "I'll make the robots stop stealing your chilidogs, I swear!"

"We came for infor—wait, WHAT? THAT WAS YOU? YOU A**HOLE! WHY, I OUGHTA…" Sonia, Manic, and Tails had to hold Sonic back.

"Deal with it later, bro! We've got a major problem on our hands!" Manic reminded him.

"As my brother was about to say," Sonia said to Eggman, "we came for information on the Tails Doll."

"Yeah," Tails said. "Why'd you make it, and how do we stop it?"

Eggman thought for a minute. "Why should I tell you?"

"It's been killing our friends!" Tails cried.

"So? That means it's completing its original mission! There are less of you for me to deal with now!"

"If you don't tell us," Manic said, "we'll let go of my angry bro here. Do you really want to deal with Sonic, unleashed?"

Eggman looked at his arch-enemy. He could have sworn Sonic was foaming at the mouth.

"All right, fine!" he said. "Just get him to calm down."

After Eggman had made his robots stop stealing chilidogs, everyone had a seat. Eggman began to tell the story.

"It started when Metal Sonic and Metal Knuckles were playing a video game. M K insisted it was his turn and stole the controller from M S. They started fighting. Does that sound like anyone you know? Anyway, I came in and broke it up. I sent M K to his room, and I gave M S a list of supplies that I wanted from the hardware store. I planned to build a new army of robots."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Sonic said. "You actually BUY robot supplies?"

"Of course not, silly hedgehog. I was making Metal Sonic pay for it with his allowance."

"…You give your robots an allowance?"

"That's beside the point. Anyway, the store was apparently out of the metal sheets I wanted. M S was told all that was left was bright pink metal."

"I heard of a hardware store that sold pink metal," Sonia said. "Didn't it get destroyed?"

"Metal Sonic was apparently afraid I would build a Metal Amy. He didn't exactly like the idea of a stalker. He blew up the entire hardware store."

"I should have known," Sonia said. "Your robots will destroy anything."

"Yes, isn't it wonderful?" Eggman said. "Anyway, it seemed as though a nearby fabric store was having a sale. So M S came home with bags full of felt, thread, stuffing, and a sewing machine!"

Manic, Sonic, Sonia, and Tails looked at each other. They exploded with laughter.

"I thought you wanted to create intelligent robots, Robuttnik!" Manic said between laughs.

Eggman sighed and waited for the room to quiet down. "Naturally, I used the supplies to build numerous dolls of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. They were perfect targets for my E-series robots to train with. I seem to recall E-102 Gamma practicing with them. Anyway, one doll of Tails…it stuck out. It was a bit…different from the others. Its ears were smaller and rounder, like that of a teddy bear. Taking a shard of the red Chaos Emerald and hanging it from the wire, I gave it life. Eventually, I found it to be weak and stopped sending it out on missions. I kept it in a closet, but it left during the night and was back in the morning."

"That's when it was killing people," Sonic said. "Then, when Knuckles took it and brought it home to the Master Emerald, it killed him and stole the Emerald's power. Later, it killed Blaze to get the power of the Sol Emeralds, and last night it…" Sonic slapped his forehead. "We're so stupid!"

"What?" everyone asked.

"Those three people that were killed before Blaze—they'd moved into Shadow's old house, where he'd lived before he moved in with Rouge! Plus, I heard that during Team Dark's autopsy, they discovered that Shadow's chaos powers had been drained, even though he was still wearing his rings!"

"I don't get it," Sonia said. "What are we missing?"

"The Tails Doll is searching for items of power," Sonic said. "It intends to get stronger after every kill!"

Before anyone could respond, Metal Sonic burst into the room.

"Oh, hello, M S," Dr. Eggman said. "We were just talking about you."

"SECURITY ISSUE, DOCTOR. THERE IS A PINK HEDGEHOG OUTSTIDE, AND A DOLL APPROACHING—" Metal Sonic turned and saw his organic counterpart. "YOU!"

"Hey there, Metal Faker," Sonic said. "Is that a new voice chip?"

"Calm down, M S," Eggman said. "We're just talking. Now, what were you saying?"

"A FEW MINUTES AGO, THE ROBOTS IN THE MAIN CAMERA ROOM NOTICED A PINK HEDGEHOG TRYING TO GET IN THE BASE. ACCORDING TO THE TAPE, SHE'D BEEN TRYING TO GET IN FOR NEARLY AN HOUR. A DOLL SEEMED TO BE APPROACHING HER A FEW MINUTES AGO AS WELL."

"Nearly an HOUR?" Eggman yelled. "WHO'S ON SECURITY DUTY RIGHT NOW?"

"ORBOT AND CUBOT, SIR."

"That explains it," Eggman muttered.

"Wait a minute," Tails said. "Did you say a DOLL was approaching her?"

"POSITIVE. SUBJECT LOOKED LIKE YOU."

A scream came from outside. "SOOOOOOOONIIIIIIIIC! HELP ME! SON—"

It was suddenly quiet.

"AMY!" Sonic cried.

He dashed outside the base. The doll was nowhere to be seen, but Amy's mangled corpse was in front of the door. A message had been written on the ground in her blood: "_YOU'RE NEXT, 'MASTER'_."


	6. Mutiny

"I want every robot still standing to guard this base," Eggman said. "Surround the perimeter and put two in every hallway. And get those two nincombots out of the security room! You're on security until further notice, Metal Sonic. We have to find that doll and keep it out of the base."

"YES, SIR. AND…OUR 'VISITORS'?"

Eggman hesitated as if the next part was hard to say. "…Give them rooms and protect them at all costs. They…may be our only hope."

"YES, SIR."

"I'm so selfish," Sonic said as tears rolled down his cheeks. "If only I'd let her come with us…just this once…she'd be alive. Deep down, though I never showed it…I loved her…"

Sonic had carried Amy's mauled corpse back into Eggman's base. Tails had built her a makeshift coffin out of scrap metal.

Manic put an arm around his brother. He'd never admitted it, but he'd secretly had feelings for the pink hedgehog, too.

"Yes, it's rather sad," Eggman said anxiously. "But you saw what that message said. We've got to destroy that doll, or Mobius will lose its greatest scientist!"

Sonic wiped his eyes. "Yeah, we've gotta move on. What do you suggest we do?"

"We need to build a sort of weapon which can siphon all of the doll's power," Eggman said. "Once it's powerless, you can easily tear it apart. After all, it's really just a toy."

"How are you going to build it?" asked Tails.

"With your help, of course, Fox Boy," Eggman said. "It will be like the time we worked together to fix your Tomato."

"Tornado," Tails muttered. "And yes, I found the tracking device you put on it."

"That's beside the point," the doctor said. "Now, this weapon will require quite a bit of power to come close to that of the doll. We'll have to use Chaos Emeralds and amplify their power somehow. I've got three."

"And I just happen to have the other four with me," Sonic said. "Let's see…that's weird, I could have sworn they were right—MANIC!"

"All right, all right! Jeez!" Manic gave the stolen Emeralds back to his brother.

Eggman and Tails worked for hours on the weapon. The Underground had already been taken to a large, multi-bed room, but Sonic wasn't sure he liked his room being "guarded" by robots. They could stop trying to keep the doll outside and start trying to keep him trapped inside. He didn't sleep, refusing to let his guard down. Eventually, at about 1:30 a.m., the mechanical genius decided to call it a night.

"We're not done," Tails argued when Eggman suggested going to bed.

"We can easily finish tomorrow," Eggman said. "Besides, that blasted toy has probably already killed tonight. We're safe, especially with my robots guarding us."

Tails yawned. "I guess so. We…"

He could barely keep his eyes open. Eggman summoned a robot, who gently carried the sleepy fox to the guest dorm. Tails picked the bed closest to Sonic and fell asleep instantly. For the first time in hours, Sonic smiled a little.

"Sleep well, little bro."

Dr. Eggman was heading to his room, escorted by Metal Sonic. The doctor wasn't going to take any chances against his creation gone wrong.

"Metal Sonic, I want you and Mecha Sonic to guard the weapon Tails and I are working on. Put Metal Knuckles in the security room. We have to make sure that weapon is untouched. Otherwise, I have no hope of survival."

They arrived in Eggman's private quarters. The door shut behind them.

"THAT WILL NOT BE NESSECARY…MASTER."

"Excuse me? That was a direct order!"

The robot didn't care. "YOUR ORDERS MEAN NOTHING. I CANNOT LET YOU DESTROY MY ARTIFICIAL BROTHER. I HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH HIM FOR SO LONG."

Eggman went pale. "You…what?"

"I WAS TRACKING THE HEDGEHOG ON THE NIGHT OF THE SLEEPOVER. I HEARD THE STORY AND DECIDED TO FORM A PLAN WITH THE TAILS DOLL. WE DECIDED TO LET KNUCKLES TAKE HIM HOME, AND HE'D KILL THE FOOLISH ECHIDNA DURING THE NIGHT IN ORDER TO TAKE THE MASTER EMERALD'S POWER! I KNEW ALL THE ORGANIC CREATURES AT PREMENTIONED 'SLEEPOVER' WERE SOMEHOW LINKED TO ITEMS OF POWER. NOW, THE CHAOS EMERALDS HAVE BEEN BROUGHT RIGHT INTO OUR HANDS, AND HAVE ALREADY BEEN DRAINED OF THEIR POWER. YOU ARE USELESS TO US, DOCTOR."

Eggman was speechless for a minute. "You…you traitors! I gave both of you life! Metal Sonic, you were always my favorite! I was going to let you rule part of the Eggman Empire once I finally conquered Mobius!"

"WHICH YOU WILL NEVER DO. YOUR 'STRATEGIES' ARE WORTHLESS. YOU WILL NEVER DEFEAT THE HEDGEHOG. TD HAS BEEN DESTROYING THE HEROES. THEY ARE ALMOST ALL DEAD, AND NOT EVEN A WEEK HAS PASSED. SO NOW…IT'S YOUR TURN. MY BROTHER AND I WILL BE KINGS OF MOBIUS!"

Metal Sonic lunged forward, slamming into his former master and pinning him against the wall. The robot held Eggman's wrists against the wall; his claws punctured the evil genius's skin. The door opened and the Tails Doll floated in, as if it had been waiting outside the whole time.

"I can't believe…you betrayed me…again!" Eggman said.

If he'd had a mouth, Metal Sonic would have smiled at the memory of his earlier attempt at mutiny. "THAT WAS A GLORIOUS DAY. THE HEROES BEAT ME THEN; THIS TIME, THEY WON'T HAVE THE CHANCE. HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO DIE, DOCTOR?"

"By natural causes," he spat.

"I'M AFRIAD THAT WON'T BE POSSIBLE. HOW ABOUT…_UN_NATURAL CAUSES?"

Eggman desperately tried to break free of Metal Sonic's grip, but failed. The robot was too strong. The Tails Doll's jewel glowed, and a machete appeared in its plush hands.

"GOODBYE FOREVER…MASTER," Metal Sonic said.

The Tails Doll moved in closer. Eggman tried again to free himself, but it was no use.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" He didn't speak again.


	7. Brothers Till Death

The robot and doll didn't realize they were being watched. Silently, a shocked hedgehog had seen everything from an air vent—or "Thieves' Highway", as he often called it. Like Sonic, he hadn't been able to sleep. Quickly and quietly, Manic crawled back to the bedroom Sonic, Sonia, and Tails were still in. He went to his brother, who was still wide awake.

"Bro, we've gotta get outta here. NOW."

"What did you see?"

"The doll…and M-Metal Sonic…just killed Eggman. They already took the Chaos Emeralds' power. We're doomed unless we escape." Manic was sweating.

Sonic's eyes widened. "I'll wake up Tails, you get Sonia. Do you have an escape plan?"

Manic nodded. "I figured we'd take the Thieves' Highway again."

In a matter of minutes, everyone was safely outside. Sonia and Manic reclaimed their vehicles, and all four of them sped off into the night. They were just in time, as Metal Sonic broke into their room seconds after they left.

"THEY ARE GONE," he said to the Tails Doll. "IT DOES NOT MATTER. THEY HAVE NOWHERE TO RUN. THEY SHALL ALL BE TERMINATED SOON ENOUGH. COME, WE MUST PREPARE FOR OUR FINAL VICTORY."

Metal Sonic and the Tails Doll walked into the robot gathering room. Metal went to the podium where Eggman usually stood to talk to the robots. He pushed a button, which sent a message to all the robots in the base to come to the gathering room. Soon, the room was filled.

"MY METAL BRETHEN," Metal Sonic began, "I BRING TERRIBLE NEWS. OUR MASTER, THE GREAT DOCTOR EGGMAN, WAS KILLED MINUTES AGO BY INTRUDERS!"

Robotic chatter filled the room. Dr. Eggman was dead? Was that even possible?

"THE INTRUDERS—SONIC, TAILS, MANIC, AND SONIA—HAVE ESCAPED. TD AND I HAVE DECIDED IT BEST TO GO AFTER THEM AND AVENGE OUR MASTER'S DEATH. FIRST, HOWEVER…WE WILL NEED A NEW RULER."

"WHO?" asked Mecha Sonic.

"WE NEED A SMART, STRONG, INFLUENTIAL RULER!" Metal Sonic said. "WHICH IS WHY I BELIEVE THAT THE BEST RULER AMONG ROBOTS WOULD BE—"

"ME! IT'S GOTTA BE ME, PARTNER! AH'LL ROUND UP THEM VARMITS AN' SHOW 'EM WHO'S BOSS!" Cubot waved his hand in the air.

"…NO. AFTER EVALUATING THE SITUATION, I BELIEVE THAT I, METAL SONIC, AM BEST SUITED FOR THIS JOB!"

"WHY YOU?" Metal Knuckles demanded.

"BECAUSE I AM THE SMARTEST, FASTEST, STRONGEST, AND MOST FEARED ROBOT!" Metal Sonic replied. "BESIDES, I WAS ALWAYS MASTER'S FAVORITE."

"SMART, MY METAL A**," a robot said.

"WHO SAID THAT?" Metal Sonic demanded to know.

Another robot got on the stage next to him. The robot was green with a black torso to look like a jacket. Its arms had flame designs. There were two empty slots in its chest, resembling scars. A red visor covered its glowing eyes.

"WHY SHOULD YOU BE THE RULER?" Metal Scourge asked. "I MATCH YOU IN ALL SKILLS. I, HOWEVER, WAS MODELED AFTER A POWERFUL KING!"

"A POWERFUL KING WHO WAS DEFEATED BY **MY** COUNTERPART," Metal Sonic argued. "BESIDES, I'M OLDER."

"WE ARE ROBOTS! AGE DOES NOT MATTER!"

"I AM THE RULER. GET OVER IT."

"NO!" Metal Scourge refused to back down.

"FINE. TD, WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO THE HONORS?"

In seconds, Metal Scourge was a pile of scrap metal.

"NOW THEN," said Metal Sonic, "ARE THERE ANY MORE OBJECTIONS?"

The room was silent.

"GOOD. I SHALL PERSUE OUR INTRUDERS WITH TD NOW."

"I guess this is it," Sonia.

It was around 9:00. The quartet had arrived home hours before. They'd done their best to catch up on their sleep, but they were still tired.

"Don't say that, sis!" Sonic encouraged. "We're still breathing, right?"

"Not for much longer," Manic muttered.

"Oh, come on! Has everyone completely given up hope? We always pull through, and this will be no exception," Sonic said, though he was beginning to doubt his own words.

"We've never faced such a strong enemy before, Sonic," Tails said. "Now almost everyone we know is dead!"

"I know, little bro. But we gotta form a plan for when they attack."

"You're right, bro," Manic said. "They could strike at any minute."

"THEY COULD STRIKE SOONER THAN YOU FOOLS ANTICIPATED," a metallic voice said from outside.

A second later, the door was kicked in. Metal Sonic and the Tails Doll entered.

"It's called a 'door knob', bolt brains," Sonic said. "Try it out sometime."

"DID YOU IDIOTS REALLY BELIEVE YOU COULD RUN FROM US? YOU WENT STRAIGHT TO YOUR OWN ABODE. WE ALREADY KNEW THE LOCATION. WE DECIDED TO WAIT BEFORE KILLING YOU, TO GIVE YOU A FALSE SENSE OF HOPE."

"I told you we should have hidden somewhere else!" Sonia yelled at her blue brother.

"NORMALLY I WOULD TELL YOU TO MAKE IT HARDER FOR US NEXT TIME. HOWEVER, THERE WILL BE NO 'NEXT TIME'."

"We'll see about that," Sonic said.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU TAMPER WITH, FOOL? ALLOW ME TO SHOW YOU."

Metal Sonic put his hands in the air. Lightning shot from his palms, destroying the roof and exposing gathering clouds above. He caused a cloudburst, and lightning shot back down at him and the Tails Doll as it started to rain. Rather than being electrocuted, the beings absorbed the power of the storm.

Tails and the Underground could only watch helplessly as Metal Sonic fused with his artificial brother. More metal parts seemed to come out of nowhere and bind to them. In seconds, the heroes were looking up at a huge, blue dragon-like robot, complete with a glowing red jewel attached to its head.

"ALL LIVING THINGS, KNEEL BEFORE YOUR MASTER!" it bellowed. "WE ARE DARK ARTIFICIAL OVERLORD! WE ARE POWER, DARKNESS, AND PURE CHAOS ENERGY COMBINED! NONE CAN STOP US!"

"Um…I don't suppose you've formed that plan yet, bro?" Manic said.

"There's only one thing we can we do," Sonic said "ATTACK!"

Sonic spinballed into the robotic beast, which had almost no effect. Sonia tried to blast it with her key board. Manic tried creating an earthquake. Tails kept flying in close to try and get a hit. The heroes kept up the fight for a while, but were powerless to stop Dark Artificial Overlord.

"FOOLS! PATHETIC, POWERLESS FOOLS! WE CAN DESTROY YOU IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE! SEE FOR YOURSELVES!"

The monstrosity shot out a claw and caught Tails off guard. It grabbed him by his twin tails, preventing him from flying away.

"Sonic! Help!" he cried out.

"I'm coming, Tails!" Sonic responded, running as fast as he could.

He wasn't fast enough.

As quickly as lightning, another claw flew at Tails, raking through his chest and killing him instantly. Sonic was stunned silent for a moment. The hero's only thoughts were of a scene from years ago.

~~flashback~~

_"Hey!"_

_"…."_

_"Hey, little fox boy! Are you alive? Hello?"  
><em>

_The kit opened his eyes. "M-Mama?"_

_The hedgehog who'd woken him cocked his head to the side. "Fox boy, do I LOOK like a mama fox to you? I'm a hedgehog! And a boy, too!"_

_The baby fox looked around. The blue hedgehog talking to him was a few years older, but still young. There was no sign of his mother or father._

_"Mama! Papa!" The kit started crying._

_"Aw, you must've lost your folks in the attack a few days ago. Sorry, kid. My folks got taken away. Maybe yours were taken, too. I don't think they're dead. Yet. By the way, my name's Sonic. 'Cuz I'm really fast! Do you have a name?"_

_The kit blinked. "M-Miles." He made a face after saying it._

_"What's wrong? You don't like your name? You want a new one?"_

_Miles nodded._

_Sonic put a finger to his chin. "Lemme think…Paul? Jack? Manic? Lenny? Nah…" He took a closer look at the kit. "Hey! You've got two tails! Do they ever get tangled together?"_

_Tangled together? It had never occurred to Miles that his tails might get tangled. Out of curiosity, he twisted them together. When he undid them, and spun them in the other direction…_

_"Wow! You're flying!" Sonic's mouth fell open. "They're like a propeller! That's way past cool, kid! Hey, how about I call you Tails?"_

_The young fox nodded. "Yeah! Tails! Tails!"_

_"Awesome! Hey, Tails, wanna go save our parents? We could go on an adventure and be heroes. It'll be fun! You can be my little brother, if you want!"_

_"Really?" asked Tails. "I always wanted a big brother!"_

_Sonic beamed. "Well, then what are we waiting for? Maybe we'll find other kids! We could make a group and overthrow Ro-butt-nik! Come on, Tails!"_

_Sonic grabbed Tails' arm. The new brothers looked at each other and smiled._

~~end of flashback~~

Sonic was brought back to reality when he felt liquid hitting his fur. At first he thought it was rain, but then he noticed it was crimson. His best friend's blood had been splattered across his fur.

"You…killed him…" was all he could say. "You…KILLED MY LITTLE BROTHER!"

Sonic glared at the omnipotent robot, still holding Tails' lifeless, ruined body. He felt himself being consumed with pure anger and hatred. Manic and Sonia watched, stunned, as their brother began to change. His fur went from blue to black as night. His pupils disappeared, and he was surrounded by a blue aura.

Faster than light, Dark Super Sonic went straight through Dark Artificial Overlord's metal body. It howled and began to fall apart. The enraged hedgehog grabbed the freak's red jewel and crushed it in his hand. He tore up what remained of the robot, never wanting to stop.

Finally, it was destroyed. Nothing remained but enough pieces of metal to fill a junkyard. Dark Super Sonic returned to his normal form.

"Sonic," Sonia breathed. "You just…without any Emeralds, you just…"

"That was incredible," Manic said in awe.

Sonic didn't respond. He found Tails' body among the wreckage. Taking the little fox's body in his arms, he broke down and cried.


	8. Epilogue: Burying Friends

A year had passed since the sleepover which set the great tragedy in motion. No survivor could forget it. Mobius had lost its greatest threat, but it had lost its greatest heroes, too.

Two hedgehogs walked through town carrying fresh flowers. They didn't speak to anyone. They just headed to the cemetery to pay a visit to lost friends.

After a short walk, the pair reached a cluster of graves set aside for the victims of the Tails Doll. The green hedgehog noticed a tear fall from his sister's eye. He took her hand.

Silently, Manic and Sonia put flowers on all the graves. Sonia added special care to Knuckles's bouquet. Manic used unusual tenderness on the last grave's flowers.

Once the flowers had been arranged to their liking, the pair stood back and read the grave markers for the thousandth time. All the tombstones gave the victim's name, date of birth and death, and said "Killed in the fight against the Tails Doll". All except the last one.

Sonia began to sob into Manic's chest when she read the last one. He found that he, too, couldn't keep from crying as he read it:

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

JUNE 23, 1991-APRIL 6, 2008

BRAVE FIGHTER, HERO OF MOBIUS

COMMITTED SUICIDE AFTER MOST OF HIS FRIENDS WERE KILLED


End file.
